How Mavericks feel about Kyrie Irving as team spirals in NBA playoff race

Remember when Kyrie Irving was viewed as the missing piece in Dallas?

Well, that went away quickly, but apparently, the organization doesn’t think it’s his own doing, even as it entered Sunday at 36-38 in a tie for 10th in the Western Conference standings, sitting in 11th place due to a tiebreaker.

The Mavericks, who were 6-8 in games in which Irving has played entering Sunday’s game against the Hornets, have praised Irving for “his professionalism and locker room presence,” according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.

Dallas acquired Irving from the Nets days before the NBA trade deadline after the guard requested a trade out of Brooklyn.

Markieff Morris also went to the Mavericks while the Nets received Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and draft picks, including a future first-rounder.

The report came after the Mavericks blew what felt like a must-win game against the tanking, 24-win Charlotte Hornets on their home floor.

Along with Irving, head coach Jason Kidd and star Luka Doncic voiced their discontent following the embarrassing 117-109 loss, which included a 69-55 halftime deficit.

“[We] probably should have been booed in the first quarter, just the effort in the play,” Kidd said Friday night. “They have a right [to boo]. They paid to see a better show. It wasn’t there until the second half. We can’t come out like that, especially this time of the year.”

The frustration doesn’t appear to be between the on-court partnership with Doncic and Irving, however.

The Mavericks had another crack at the Hornets Sunday — they trailed by 14 after the first quarter — which begins a five-game road trip, including matchups with the likely playoff-bound Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat.

Irving is also rather famously in the last year of a four-year, $136 million deal originally signed with the Nets in the summer of 2019.

Irving, who just turned 31 years old, will become an unrestricted free agent following the conclusion of his 12th NBA season.